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Framed coloured invitation to Mr & Mrs J.M.A. Callaghan to witness the opening of the Parliament of the Commonwealth by the Prime Minister Edmund Barton on 9 May 1901. Invitation cites Kipling's Commonwealth Ode: Loyal she gave the greeting, royal she bowed her head, Crying 'Crown me, my Mother, and the old Queen stood and said, Blood of our foes on thy bridle and speech of our friends in thy mouth, How can I crown thee further, O Queen of the Sovereign South? Daughter no more but Sister, and doubly daughter so, Mother of many princes and child of the child I bore.

The image was designed by Tom Carrington and produced by Sands and McDougall Limited, Melbourne.

Cartoonist Tom Carrington's design shows Young Australia, fresh from battle, approaching Britannia for honour and acceptance. Toscin, a radical newspaper, disapproved: 'The spirit of blatant jingoism... has burst out in full vulgar virulence... It is a clumsy, tawdry picture ... inspired by Kipling's drivel on the Old Queen and the Young Queen'. The original watercolour on which this invitation was based is held in the Wordsworth Collection, Perth.

Description:

Colour invitations shows a young woman with armour and sword dismounting from a white horse in front of an older woman who has a crown in front of her. Several other women look on. The room is hung with heraldic bunting and shields, including one of the Union Jack and one showing the Southern Cross. The older woman is dressed as Britannia, and her shield and trident are at rest beside her.

Royal Exhibition Building Collection, Public Life & Institutions Collection

Primary Classification:

PUBLIC EVENTS

Secondary Classification:

Federation

Tertiary Classification:

invitations

Inscriptions:

Printed: His Majesty's Ministers of State for the Commonwealth of Australia/ request the honour of the presence of... / in the Exhibition Building, Melbourne, on Thursday, 9th May, to witness/ the Opening of the Parliament of the Commonwealth./ Edmund Barton/ Prime Minister